Howell of the Wolf
by looneyforlupin
Summary: The story of how Hope Howell became Hope Lupin. A five chapter story which may have a sequel depending on how this is received.
1. Chapter 1

DISCLAIMER: I am British but I am not blonde and do not own Harry Potter.

Chapter 1: The Beckon of Hope

Four boys. Gwendolyn Howell has been blessed with four little boys already but she couldn't help but want a little girl, who would let her plait her hair and play with dollies. During her fifth pregnancy the woman made sure that she followed every old wife's tale she could in order to ensure that she got a girl this time. John Howell, her husband, thought she was insane but knew better than to argue with his now heavily pregnant wife. Although it had nothing to do with all those rituals, Gwendolyn did in fact get her little girl, her beckon of hope and that's exactly what they called her. Hope.

Hope was an imaginative little girl, enjoying both the company of her older brothers and not minding sitting alone so that she could focus on her stories. Her imagination would run away with its self on occasion, like her nightmares of a scary man creeping into her room and attacking her. The pretty little girl was everything her mother could dream off, she loved to have her sandy hair played with while she played with her dolls and listen to her mother tell her what a beauty she was.

Dreaming of being a writer, Hope knew that she would never succeed in Barry Island so at the age of twenty-four she packed up her room and watched the whole family wave her goodbye as her father drove her to the train station where she would board a train to Cardiff. There she met her flatmates, Elena and Nichole, and she quickly got a job at an insurance office to pay the bills. She was happy with her life and although she still wasn't a writer, Hope kept dreaming.

A year after being in Cardiff, Hope was still working in insurance and a particular case lead her to be in a forest that she really shouldn't have been in. While there she started to hear strange noises, putting in down to some harmless animals, Hope continued until she turned rather suddenly and was faced with the man from her nightmares. A scream escaped her lips and as she waited for the man to attack her she heard the twigs behind her snap and the man disappeared before her eyes. Whipping around she was meant with bright blue eyes and a voice that said, "Don't worry just a boggart."

Lyall Lupin was the only child of two purbloods, Lucinda and Thomas Lupin. The curious boy grew up in a small town in Scotland and adored to go hunting with his father while his mother cooked their dinner. The family was the picture of perfection and Lyall was brought up with most of the traditional pureblood values.

A Ravenclaw at Hogwarts, Lyall was a smart, if somewhat quiet, boy who took a shine to Defence Against the Dark Arts and Care of Magical Creatures. Leading him to writing his books and becoming world renowned for knowledge non-human spirituous apparitions.

On the fourth of April 1959, Lyall found himself investigating a Boggart case in a Welsh forest. Hearing the scream of a frightened woman, Lyall ran to the sound and after shrinking the simple Boggart to a field mushroom was met with the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen.

"Don't worry just a boggart," was what he managed to get out before she collapsed in his arms.

She wept into his shirt and as he rubbed her back he couldn't help but smile.

"He was scary, so scary. How did you get rid of him?" Hope said in her hysterics as the man rubbed her back and nodded her head against her curls.

Lyall struggled with his answer before muttering, "Oh it was nothing really."

"Nothing? Nothing?! He was a big scary man and you saved me," Hope said as she lifted her head and looked into his eyes. Lyall decided that they shouldn't talk about it anymore and, linking arms with her, asked the name of her address so that he could take her home.

As they walked up to her flats, Hope turned to Lyall with her sweet smile she kissed his cheek and whispered, "Thank you. For saving me, for being a gentleman, for…well for making me feel better."

Lyall smiled and grabbed Hope back softly as she began to walk up her steps.

"Can I see you again? I mean, maybe Saturday? You know, if you're not busy or have other plans. In fact you probably do so it doesn't really matter. What was I thinking pretty girl like you must get lo-" But before her could finish his ramble, Hope pressed a finger to his lips before giving a slight nod.

"I would love to and although your rambling is rather cute I was scared you would try and talk me out of it before you even properly ask me," she said with a small wink before running up to the flat and the girls.

Lyall stood outside for a while, in awe that the pretty girl had choosen him to spend Saturday night with. He was about half way down her street before he heard Hope's voice call down from her window, "Seven! Pick me up at seven!"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Hopelessy in Love

Hope stood in front of the full length mirror that had been placed in the corner of her room for the last twelve months. She must have flattened her little light blue dress fifty times before she heard Elena tut at her from the doorway. The young woman tossed her loose dark hair around before walking up behind her roommate.

"He'll love you Hope," Elena said quietly as she fixed Hope's sandy hair so that the woman's curls fell behind her and smiled before ushering her out to the main living space so that Nichole could see Hope twirl as the dress' skirt flew around her making the beautiful girl look like a real fairy princess.

The sharp three knocks at their wooden door signalled Lyall's arrival and sparked a whole new level of Hope's nervousness. Nichole and Elena fought to open the door and greet him but Hope got there first, opening the front door to a grinning Lyall Lupin. Looking her up and down the grin widened and widened his eyes as he met her dark hazel set, saying in a quiet and soft voice, "You look incredible."

Hope grinned as she took his arm and was lead out of the apartment, not before throwing an excited smile to her best friends.

"So you know where I live, are you going to tell me where you reside?" Hope asked as she smiled up at the man whose hand was currently swinging hers after a successful date.

Lyall returned the smile. "I'm just here for the next week, then it's back up to Scotland with me," He said as he give her hand a gentle squeeze, "But I'm sure I'll have time to come down here again soon, not a very busy man."

Hope nodded in agreement and almost gasped under her breath, "I'd like that." After a bit of an awkward silence, Hope broke it by clearing her throat and speaking louder than before to ask another question, "Why are you down in Scotland? More importantly, why were you in that forest?"

Biting his lip, Lyall thought about his answer through and an excuse for what he was doing there. He had definitely not known her long enough for her to learn the truth. "I'm done here writing my next textbook, it's all very boring stuff really," it wasn't exactly a lie, "Looking for a bit of danger I suppose. What were _you_ doing in the forest?"

"If you must know I work in an insurance office and was doing a follow up on a hiking accident," she explained with a small chuckle at his accusing tone, "Books? What's your field?"

"Economics," Lyall answered fluently, praying to every God he knew that she wouldn't ask anymore about a subject that he had no idea about.

"Oh well that must be…ummm…interesting?" Hope said in a struggled voice before the couple burst into a synchronised laugh. After a short while they finish and Lyall looked at his date with the glint of happiness still in his eyes before nodding his head towards the empty ice cream palour that would still be open for ten more minutes.

"Would you like some dessert?"

As they walked home with their ice cream cones that contained chocolate and honeycomb. Hope smiled as she came to a halt outside her building.

"Well you know that this is me," she said with a smile and gave him another small kiss on the cheek. But as she turned Lyall pulled her hand back and gave her a soft kiss.

"Sorry, I'm so sorry. I don't know what came over me. I should have asked your permission before I did anything like that," he said as any gentleman would but was soon stopped by his date's small giggle and asked insidiously, "What?"

Hope just continued to giggle and shrugged slightly before explaining, "I was just think that you tasted like chocolate ice cream and how much I wish I'd gotten the same." Leaning in to the confused man she pecked his lips quickly before muttering, "Goodnight Lyall."

"Goodnight Hope," the shocked Lyall almost whispered, not that she would have been able to hear him anyway as he had no doubt she was already making her way up her metal stairs. But that was when Lyall Thomas Lupin came to a great realization that he knew had been in the back of his mind since her lovely hazel eyes had looked into his in the forest. He was hopelessly in love with this weird Welsh woman.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I'm so sorry that this took so long, especially to Naomi who I told this would be up on Friday. Unfortunately my internet was down.**

**DISCLAIMER: I'm still not J. K. Rowling**

* * *

_Chapter 3: Given Up Hope_

Hope Howell couldn't be happier than she had been in the months that she'd know Lyall Lupin. Lyall, on the other hand, couldn't have felt guiltier.

"Sweetheart," he started in a soft voice to his reflection, "I'm a wizard."

"I'm a wizard," he repeated in a harsher voice.

He said it again with a smile, "I'm a wizard."

He tried it quietly. Louder. With a frown. With no expression at all.

Finally he gave up and decided there was no exact science to telling your girlfriend you had lied to her, there was no good way to tell your muggle girlfriend that you were a wizard, you just had to rip the plaster off and bid her farewell.

* * *

"Ly," Hope softly said as she grabbed her boyfriend's hand, "Are you feeling well? You've been strange all night."

She wasn't lying, Lyall had been strange all night. In fact she had almost entertained herself with the idea that he could be asking for her hand, but quickly she had pushed it out of her head and reasoned that he hadn't kissed her since that night on her doorstep, there was no way he would be asking her to marry him just yet.

Lyall didn't answer but simply just shot her a reassuring smile before leading her into the little diner at the end of the street for a little coffee.

It was only when the bell above the door rang that they saw that the cook was obviously cleaning up to leave and the waitress already had her coat on. They both sent the couple a disapproving look which was answered by a small giggle escaping from Hope's red full lips and a sheepish smile appearing to compliment the light blush forming on Lyall's cheeks.

Hope took charge of facing the angry waitress and bravely ordering two coffees. She sat down at the back booth to face her date and her wide and deep hazel eyes looked deeply into his clear blue pair. While keeping the eye contact, she let an almost whisper slip from her lips as she said, "So are you going to talk about what's bothering you?"

Still not having figured out the perfect way to tell her, Lyall simply looked at her and said quietly so that the nosy waitress couldn't hear, "Hope, I'm a wizard."

Immediately ducking his head and becoming very interested in the table, Lyall failed to catch Hope's smile widen. He shook his head and made a move to leave.

"I'm sorry to have bothered you, I'll go now. I promise you won't hear from me again."

As he got to his feet, Lyall felt a small hand pull his much larger one back. He looked up from the floor to see the girl he'd fallen in love with smiling like a lunatic.

"I very well hope not," she said as she joined him and was on her feet. Throwing down some off her last change to pay from the coffee they had yet to receive and Lyall let the shorter woman pull him out onto the street.

"Show me," she whispered in his ear before pulling away with the glint of adventure in her eyes.

Smiling at her as he led her to the empty side street, Lyall instructed Hope to cling to him tightly and just before they apparated he said, "This may feel a little strange."

* * *

As they appeared in a new place, Hope looked around her and felt a little disorientated. Soon she came to realize that they were standing in a small apartment with a lot of Scottish voices yelling in the street below. She was standing in Lyall's apartment, she was standing in Lyall's apartment in Scotland.

"How?" Hope asked as she turn to Lyall with shock clearly painted on her face.

"Magic," Lyall answered with a smug smile, before taking her in his arms and giving her a small kiss.


End file.
